Pages

14 August 2012

1. My first Kobo Touch - after 6 months, touchscreen died. Can do everything except un-navigable, so as good as useless now.

2. KT replacement unit 1 - dead right out of box.

3. Kindle4 - excellent device.

4. KT replacement unit 2 - finally received a working unit from Kobo 70 days after first contact with company.

Kobo Touch vs Kindle 4

Storage - Kindle4 built in flash storage of 2GB, usable 1.3+GB only. KoboT memory expandable via micro SD. However, I have long since lost the thrill of having entire e-book library in single device so the 1+ GB Kindle internal memory is plenty already. Nowadays I just load the books I want to read onto whichever eReader and delete when done. [Entire collection is stored in Dropbox/SugarSync folders on PC, in turn super kiasu
nested within Box.net backup. Box desktop sync app just came out yesterday].

Loading - previously I was under the impression that having purchased lots of books in ePub format, transferring them onto Kindle would be a real chore. Not true. With Calibre, conversion+transfer requires just one mouse click. Therefore, proprietary book format restriction should not put one off buying a Kindle. So, I will continue to buy Adobe DRM ePub books from Kobo, de-DRM, and "calibre" onto Kindle. No need for Amazon book store, so need for US address/credit card all irrelevant. You can also email e-books (mobi) directly to your Kindle, which is very cool.

Firmware - Kobo unreliable, quirky and temperamental. Unexplained sudden re-boots, screen freezes etc all part of the Kobo experience. Kindle is much more stable and robust. Both super long battery life.

Verdict - I am equally happy with either, as long as there is no need to call Kobo help desk for support (nightmare!). For newcomer, definitely go with the Kindle. At SGD 130 from here (tip top service from Xuan), you can't go much wrong. [Shop in Funan selling at $250! Bloody con job]. Also suggest the cheapest model ie Kindle 4 with ads and treat it as a 1-2 year use and discard device. The ads are not intrusive at all. Only comes on in standby mode and not when reading. There is a Kindle Touch model but rightly or wrongly after my Kobo Touch experience, I am of the impression that e-ink touchscreens are more prone to failing vis-a-vie button navigation.

All the other features like web browsers, games etc to me are completely irrelevant. I want my eReader purely for book reading only. The simpler the device, the better.